Why Middle Class Parents Choose Urban Public Schools

• In Event: 523 - Section on Sociology of Education Refereed Roundtable Session and Business Meeting
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 18. Social Class, Sexuality, and Education: Session I

Abstract

This study explores the reasons behind why middle-class parents choose to send their children to urban public schools in contrast to exiting the system for private, charter, or suburban public schools. Data come from in-depth interviews conducted between September 2014 and October 2015 with 42 parents who have children enrolled in the Albany City School District in Albany, NY. The researcher interviewed families from white, African American, and Hispanic backgrounds. Findings reveal a number of different themes. Many parents’ preferences surrounded an argument that urban public schools had a distinctive culture and character in which they wanted instilled in their children, one that was egalitarian and inclusive. These were traits they believed were conspicuously absent in both private schools and in suburban public schools which they deemed “elitist.” In addition, whereas most parents desired the diversity that was present throughout schools in the district, diversity meant different things to certain white parents than it did to a number of black and Hispanic parents. Finally, many parents were skeptical of the claim that the city’s and region’s private schools were distinctively academically superior to the city’s public schools. The paper ends with suggestions for future scholarship.

Author

• Paul Thomas Knudson, University of Massachusetts Amherst